“This local green company bleeds Bedford blue.”
Dan Carroll, chief operating officer of Revise Inc., reflected on the decision a couple of years ago to open a satellite office of the Mass Save performance contractor at 131 The Great Road.
“We could have easily kept driving to Haverhill every day,” he said. The company, founded in 2016, is based in the Bradford section of that city. “But we care about this town so much, and we found this footprint on The Great Road. We are all in for Bedford.”
To understand Revise, you first have to define Mass Save, an initiative that works with the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources to provide a range of services, incentives, training, and information promoting energy efficiency.
Revise is one of many Mass Save partners, said Sales and Marketing Director Calvin Day, providing no-cost home-energy assessments, subsidized insulation and air sealing, and heating and ventilation improvements eligible for interest-free loans. Mass Save is sponsored by natural gas and electric utilities and energy efficiency service providers. The funding is supported by a charge on customers’ energy bills.
The company dispatches crews from Haverhill, and from another major facility in Raynham, covering Worcester to Cape Cod. Energy auditors now do virtual walk-throughs. There are more than 130 employees.
“When we started to grow the business, as a dad and a friend and a neighbor I started to reach out to people who I knew were similar to my DNA – people that are team players, that are open to doing anything they can to be good leaders and good delegators,” said Carroll, a 1990 Bedford High School, graduate. “We’re Bedford guys, a bunch of great guys who grew up here and live here.”
Day, director of sales and marketing, graduated from Lexington Christian Academy and has lived in Bedford for many years. He came to Revise from the automotive industry in 2018. Geoff Chase, a 1993 BHS graduate, was in the restaurant business for 20 years, as an owner and as general manager of Red Heat Tavern. He has been canvass manager since early last year.
The company has an intense focus on giving back. “For a little business, we have a lot of impact on this small community,” Carroll said.
Early in 2019, Revise presented the School Committee with a donation to support the installation of solar panels on school rooftops. The company said the gift not only was designed to save energy but also to provide an educational opportunity.
The company’s next big project is funding “a dual-vehicle electrical charging station at Depot Park,” Carroll reported. “To raise the money, we need some Bedford homeowners to do Mass Save energy assessments through us. We will donate $35 from each and also present a gift card supporting local restaurants. We need 200 assessments for us to reach our goal of $10,000.”
Day said Revise is working with Facilities Director Taissir Alani, who suggested the idea. Eversource will handle the installation, and the town will keep the profits from charging, Day said. “As electric vehicles become more the norm, we are going to need more of these in the town. Here is one in a community spot.” Some drivers may choose to charge their vehicles while riding the nearby Minuteman Bikeway, he said.
Bedford Mothers Out Front, has been working with Revise to encourage Bedford residents to schedule home energy assessments, Day continued. The company also collaborates with realtors and contractors.
“There’s a synergy with the realtors so we can do home energy assessments, which can increase resale value,” Carroll noted. By using gift cards for Ken’s Deli and Bedford Farms, he added, Revise exemplifies how “business can support business, one to another, through incentives and programs.”
“We have all done it in our homes,” Day said. “We see the long-term plan here: reducing the carbon footprint. Some of us have young children. We understand the long upside. We identified some way we can help folks do something green.”
Nancy Kerrigan, the former national figure skating champion and Olympic medalist who grew up in Stoneham, is the spokesperson for Revise on television and print advertising. She “interacted with hundreds of people on Bedford Day” in 2019, Carroll said, and recently did a photoshoot with some skaters at The Edge. She also spoke at a meeting of Mothers Out Front about balancing a professional career and “being a mom,” he added.
“I think there’s a lot of goodwill that we do,” Carroll said. “We are in this for the community.”
Mike Rosenberg can be reached at [email protected], or 781-983-1763
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